Standing support for paraplegics



R. w. HERIFORD 3,107,105

smmms SUPPORT FOR PARAPLEGICS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 15, 1963 Filed June 10, 1960 Russell W Her/ford.

INVENTORv BY 2mm Oct. 15, 1963 R. w. HERIFORD STANDING SUPPORT FOR PARAPLEGICS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 10, 1960 Oct. 15, 1963 w. E D 3,107,105

STANDING SUPPQRT FOR PARAPLEGICS FilEd June 10, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 6

Russell M. Heriford INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,197,105 STANDING SUPPORT FDR PARAPLEGICS Russell WV. Heriford, Big Bear City, Calif. Filed June 10, 1960, Ser. No. 35,229 17 Claims. (Cl. 280-411) This invention relates to a novel and useful standing support, and more particularly to a support for assisting persons paralyzed in the lower extremities in standing and maintaining a standing position in a comfortable manner. The present invention also includes the provision of a support adapted to support a paraplegic in a manner and by a means enabling the person to move from one location to another under his own power.

Paraplegics not only require means for assisting them to stand in at least a semi-upright position, but also at times require a means for controlling spastic body portions such as legs and the like.

The main object of this invention is to provide a support for enabling a paraplegic to maintain an upright standing position and to propel himself under his own power from one place to another.

A further object of this invention, in accordance with the immediately preceding object, is to provide a support which may be conveniently collapsed to be stored in a restricted area.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a standing support which will be capable of adapting itself readily to the support of paraplegics of different heights.

Another object of this invention is to provide a standing support with a plurality of supporting wheels and drive means connected to at least one of the supporting wheels conveniently operable by the arms of a paraplegic whereby he may travel from one location to another.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a means by which the wheeled support may be steered during its movement from one place to another by means of the drive means.

Another object of this invention is to provide a means whereby the-feet of a paraplegic supported by the standing support will be properly braced thereby enabling the bones of the legs of the paraplegic to support a major portion of his body.

A still further object of this invention is to provide support for the knees of a paraplegic being supported by the standing support in order that his knees will not buckle forwardly.

Still a furtherobject of this invention, in accordance with the immediately preceding object, is to provide a means for retaining the paraplegics legs in position against lateral movement to one side or the other.

And afinal object to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a standing support which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to operate so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting and operable by the paraplegic being supported thereby without assistance from others.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the standing support shown in an extended position ready for use;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the standing sup port in a collapsed or folded position whereby it may be readily stored in a restricted area;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of the left side of the standing support;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing through the center of the support platform and showing the manner in which the various components thereof are hingedly secured together;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary elevational view of one of the supporting members for the upper frame of the standing support showing the manner in which the elevation of the upper frame may be adjusted, parts of the support for the upper frame being broken away and shown in section;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the standing support with the latter in an extended operational position; and

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing through the center of the upper frame and showing the manner in which the chest support is retained in an operational position.

Referring nowmore specifically to the drawings the numeral 19 generally designates the standing support comprising the present invention which includes a mainframe generally referred to by the reference numeral 12 and an upper frame generally referred to by the reference numeral 14. The main frame 12 includes a pair of side frame members generallyreferred to by the reference numeral 16. The side frame members 16 are substantially identical except that they are right handed and left handed. Each side frame member 16 includes a lower horizontal member 18 which interconnects the lower ends of a pair of front and rear upstanding members 20 and 22. The upper ends of the upstanding members 20 and 22 are interconnected rigidly by means of an upper horizontal member 24.

The rear ends of the lower horizontal members 18 are each provided with a support wheel 26-journalled for rotation about a horizontal axis by means of stub axles 28 secured transversely through the lower horizontal members 18. The forward ends of the lower horizontal members 18are each provided with a caster wheel assembly 28 whereby the support 19 may be steered by applying different amounts of torque to the rear wheels 26.

The lower ends of the side frame members '16 are interconnected by means of a support platform assembly generally referred to by the reference numeral 30. The support platform assembly includes a pair of platform halves 32 and 34 each including an upwardly opening recess 36 defined by upwardly projecting peripheral walls 38. The walls and bottom of the recesses are sometimes called foot restraint means. They permit limited horizontal movement of the feet, and also limit the horizontal position of the foot when slightly raised off the platform. The adjacent longitudinaledges of the platform halves 32 and 3.4 are hingedly secured together for pivotal move- .ment about a longitudinally extending axis by means of a hinge 40 and the remote side surfaces of the platform halves 32 and "34 are hingedly secured to a pair of longitudinally extending mounting members 42 secured to the inner surfaces .of the lower horizontal members '18 by means of hinges 44.

The upstanding members 20 and 22 extend parallel to each other and are tubular having open upper ends. The upper frarne -14 includes a pair of generally inverted U- shaped members 46 each including a pair of depending legs 48 and an upper horizontal bight portion 50. The lower ends of the depending legs '48 of each inverted U- shaped member '46 is telescopingly received in the upper ends of the upstanding members 20 and 22 of the side frames. With attention now directed to FIGURE 5 of the drawings, it will be noted that the telescoped ends of corresponding upstanding members 20 and 22 and the depending legs 5% are adjustable relative to each other by means of a fastener 52 secured through one pair of the aligned apertures 54 formed in the upstanding members 20' and 22 and the pair of aligned apertures 56 formed in the lower ends of each of the depending legs 48.

One end of a back lock supporting bar 58 is pivotally secured to one of the bight portions '46 by means of jour nal 60 and the other end of the back lock supporting -member 58 is provided with a generally inverted U- shaped latch member 62 by means of which that end of the back lock supporting member 58 may be removably secured to the bight portion 46 remote from the journal 60.

A back lock 64 is removably secured to the back lock supporting member 58 intermediate its ends by means of a pair of spring clips. Back lock 64 is sometimes referred to as rear restraint means. The rear restraint means is adapted to contact the rear of the user at a location above the knee joint. It will be noted that the back lock supporting member 58 is also slidably secured along the bight portion 50 and that the journal 69 closely embraces the bight portion 59 to which it is secured so that the back block supporting member '58 may be positioned longitudinally of the bight portion 50 against any rearward thrust applied to the back lock 64. The forward ends of the bight portion '50 are interconnected by means of a pair of chest support members 68 and 7 which are each pivotally secured at one end to one of the extended portions 72 of the bight portions 50: by means of a journal member 74.

The free end of the chest support member 68 is provided with a bifurcated end portion 76 and the free end of the support member 70 terminates in an angulated end portion 78 carrying the chest support 89 on the free end thereof. The chest support member 70 is also provided with an angulated end portion 82 adjacent the end portion 76, which end portions engage the bifurcated end portion 76 between the furcations thereof to maintain the chest support 86) in an elevated and operational position. Chest support 8% is sometimes called chest restraint means. It is optional. The three lower restraint means on the knees and back are ample to prevent a person from falling down while the chest support means exist to keep a person from toppling forward should he be that disabled.

The upstanding members 2%) are also interconnected by means of a knee support generally designated by the reference numeral 84 including a pair of support sections 86 each hingedly secured to one of the upstanding members 20 at one end by means of a hinge 88. The free ends of the knee support sections 86 are hingedly secured together by means of a hinge The rear surfaces of the knee support sections 86 are each provided with padding 92 adjacent the hinge 94 A flexible leg retaining strap 94 has its opposite ends secured between one of the upstanding rnembers 22 and the corresponding padding 92, in any convenient manner. The forward ends of the leg retaining strap secured to the padding 92 carried by the knee support sections 86 are secured to the remote ends of the padding .92 thereby defining a reanwardly opening recess to receive the knees of a paraplegic supported by the standing support 10. The padding 92 and the retaining straps 94 which form the recess to receive and give forward and side support to the knees of the paraplegic are sometimes referred to as knee restraint means. The restraint, when exerted on the outsides of the legs, keeps the feet from splaying out, and prevents bowleggedness when the soft bones of a paraplegic are used after long periods of being bedridden. It also serves to prevent the feet from cocking angularly after having been raised off the platform as a result of a spasm. When the spasm relaxes and the foot goes down again, the side support compels the foot to return fiat, which is not the normal tendency in paraplegics when the side support is lacking.

Each of the rear wheels 26 is provided with a sprocket gear 96 on the inside thereof and a pair of sprocket gears 98 are journalied for rotation about aligned horizontal axes at the upper forward ends of the side frame members vl6. Corresponding sprocket gears 96 and 98 are aligned and a flexible chain 100 is entrained about each pair of aligned gears 96 and 98. A pair of hand wheels 192 are mounted on the outer faces of the sprocket gears 98 and provided with eccentric crank handles 194 for manipulation by a paraplegic supported by the standing support It With particular attention now directed to FIGURE 2 of the drawings, it will be noted that the chest support members 68 and 70 can be collapsed to a storage position by first rotating the adjacent ends of the members 68 and 76 upwardly until they become disengaged whereupon the free ends of the support members 68 and 7-3 may then be allowed to individually swing downwardly to a substantially vertically disposed position such as that illustrated in FIGURE *2 of the drawings. The back lock supporting member 58 may be pivoted to an inoperative position in a similar manner by first disengaging the inverted U-shaped latch member 62 with its associated bight portion 50 whereupon the supporting member 58 may then be rotated to a substantially vertically disposed inoperative position such as that illustrated in FIGURE 2 of the drawings. After the support members 68 and 79 and the back lock supporting member 58 have been rotated to an inoperative position, the support platform assembly may be folded along its longitudinal center line by means of the hinges 40 and the hinges 44 until the side frame members 16 are spaced closely together such as that illustrated in FIGURE 2, during which pivotal movement the support '84 will have the adjacent ends of the knee support sections 36 swung inwardly thereby releasing any rigid inner connection between the side frame members 16.

The peripheral walls '38 defining the upwardly opening recesses 36 provide abutment surfaces for the feet of a paraplegic supported by the standing support 10 assuring that a paraplegic with spastic feet will not encounter difiiculty because his feet escape laterally from beneath him. The parapl'egics knes are braced against buckling forward by means of the padding -92 and are also braced against lateral escapement of the knees to either the right or left by means of the leg retaining straps 94. The chest of the paraplegic may be conveniently supported by the chest support 8% and the back lock 64 is adapted to engage a lower portion of the paraplegics back. It is to be noted that the chest support and the back lock 64, together with the bight portions 50 of the inverted U- shaped members 46 are each carried by the upper frame 14 wherein all of these elements may be adjusted vertically relative to the support platform 30 by which the paraplegic supported by the device is supported. In this manner, the support I10 may be readily adjusted for persons of difierent heights. Although there is a small difference in the height of a tall persons knees and the height of a short persons knees, this difference is negligible and therefore it is not necessary to provide a means whereby the knee support sections 86 may be adjusted vertically relative to the supoprt platform assembly 30.

To gain entrance to the standing support 10, the back lock supporting member 53 may be pivoted to an inoperational position whereby the paraplegic with his feet positioned in the upwardly opening recesses 30 may pull himself to an upright standing position by grasping and pulling on portions of the structure or on handle means 72, depending upon individual circumstances, and thereafter rotate the back lock supporting member to an operational position. The hand wheels 102 may then be manipulated to propel the standing support it), by the eccentric cranks Hid if desired, and the standing support 16 may be steered by effecting varying amounts of torque to the hand wheels 102.

The frame and lower horizontal member constitute a support means which provides structure to mount the elements which hold a user in a desired position. Support wheels 26 constitute translation means to which the support means is mounted for moving the support means around. Hand wheels 102 constitute hand coupling means, and are attached to the support means. Flexible chains 109 drivingly interconnect the hand coupling means (hand wheels) to the translation means (support wheels). Thus, through the hand wheels, the hands of the user are coupled between the support means and the translation means so that the user can propel the support means by turning the hand wheels.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A standing support for humans comprising: a pair of spaced-apart side frame members; an upper frame member; means securing the upper frame member between upper ends of said side frame members and mounting said upper frame member in adjustable elevated positions relative to the side frame members; a pair of supporting wheels carried by the lower ends of each of said side frame members; means rigidly interconnecting the upper and lower ends of said side frame members including a platform providing means for supporting the feet of the human and interconnecting the lower ends of said side frame members, said platform being disposed adjacent to, but above, a plane containing the lower extremities of said supporting wheels; knee restraint means secured between the front edges of the side members; rear restraint means connected to the upper frame; the knee and rear restraint means being so disposed and arranged as to simultaneously respectively contact the front of both legs and above the ankles, and the rear of the person above the knee joint while the person is in a standing position.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein each of said restraint means is mounted for movement to an out of the way position along side of one of said side frame members.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said support platform is foldable and said restraint means are mounted for movement to an out of the way position along side one of said side frame members whereby said side frame members may be moved toward each other to collapse said standing support.

4. The combination of claim 1 including drive means carried by the upper ends of each of said side frame members each drivingly connected to one of the supporting wheels of the corresponding side frame member and positioned to be operated by the hands of a patient supported by said standing support.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the other supporting wheels of each of said side frame members is of the castor type mounted for swivelling movement about an upstanding axis whereby said standing support may be steered by increasing and decreasing the driving torque applied to each of said one wheels.

6. A standing support comprising a main frame, a pair of spaced side frame members including a pair of supporting wheels carried by the lower ends of each of said side members, means rigidly interconnecting the upper and lower ends of said side members including a support platform interconnecting the lower ends of said side members and front and rear patient supporting members secured between corresponding front and rear ends of the upper ends of said side members, an upper frame member, means securing said upper frame member between upper ends of said side frame members and mounting said upper frame member in adjusted elevated positions relative to said main frame, said patient supporting members being carried by said upper frame member, one of said patient supporting members carried by the rear of said upper frame and adapted to support the lower portion of the back of a patient and another of said patient supporting member is carried by the front of said upper frame and is elevated relative to said rear supporting member and adapted to support the chest of a patient, a knee support secured between the forward ends of said side frame members adapted to support a patients knees from the front.

7. The combination of claim 6 including a pair of rearwardly extending and divergent horizontal lateral leg retainers spaced apart at their forward ends and secured to said knee support.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said leg retainers are flexible and the rear ends are secured to said side frame members adjacent the rear ends thereof.

9. The combination of claim 8 wherein said knee support and said support platform are foldable and said patient supporting members are mounted for movement to an out of the way position along side one of said side frame members whereby said side frame members may be moved toward each other to collapse said standing support.

10. A standing support comprising: a pair of spaced upstanding side frame members; a pair of supporting wheels mounted to and supporting the side frame members; foot restraint means including a platform attached to and interconnecting the side frame members, and adapted to support a persons feet and to limit the horizontal movement thereof; knee restraint means adapted to engage and brace the front of both legs of a person standing on the foot restraint means, said knee restraint means being attached to one of said side frame members and positioned thereby between said side frame members; rear restraint means rearwardly spaced from the knee restraint means and adapted to engage the rear of a person above the knee joint, and further adapted to be removably interconnected between the side frame members in restraint position or to be at least partially disconnected to provide access to the region between the side frame members and the knee restraint means, whereby a person may stand in the foot restraint means with his front and rear in simultaneous and continuous contact with the knee and rear restraint means, respectively, and be thereby supported in a standing position, and be rendered mobile by the supporting wheels, and whereby, the person may move said rear support means to said partially disconnected condition, place his feet on the platform, brace the front of his legs against the knee restraint means, pull with his arms on the support to draw himself between the side frame mmebers, and reconnect the rear restraint means to hold himself erect.

11. A standing support according to claim 10 in which hinge means connect the foot restraint means and the knee restraint means to the side frame members, whereby the standing support may be collapsed to a configuration of lesser envelope size by pivotal movement around said hinge means to draw the side frames toward one an- 0 er.

12. A standing support according to claim 11 in which the knee restraint means comprises a member forming a tapered recess which narrows as it extends away from a person standing in it for receiving the legs and bracing them at their front and outer sides.

13. A standing support according to claim 12 in which chest restraint means are mounted to a side frame member, and are disposed forwardly of the back restraint means and higher than the knee restraint means.

14. A standing support according to claim 13 in which the elevations of the chest and rear restraint means rela- 7 tive to the foot restraint means are independently and adjustably variable.

15. A standing support according to claim 12 in which handle means are attached to the side frame members forwardly of the knee support means, said handle means being adapted to be grasped by the person in order to pull himself into the standing support.

16. A standing support according to claim 10 in which a hand wheel is rotatably mounted to each of the side frame members, each of the hand wheels being drivingly interconnected with a respective :one of said supporting wheels, whereby a person standing in the support may selectively turn the hand wheels to propel and steer the support.

17. A standing support according to claim 16 in which a second support Wheel is mounted to each side frame member to aid in supporting the side frame members, the second support wheels being caster Wheels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS France Jan. 28, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,107,105 October 15, 1963 Russell W. Heriford It is hereby certified that error appears in the a ent requiring correction and th bove numbered patcorrected below.

at the said Letters Patent should read as Column 3, line 23,

for "block" read lock column 4, line 43, for "knes" read knees line 62, for "supoprt" read -'support column 5 line 61, for "wheels" read wheel Signed and sealed this 14th day of April 1964,

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J. BRENNER ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. A STANDING SUPPORT FOR HUMANS COMPRISING: A PAIR OF SPACED-APART SIDE FRAME MEMBERS; AN UPPER FRAME MEMBER; MEANS SECURING THE UPPER FRAME MEMBER BETWEEN UPPER ENDS OF SAID SIDE FRAME MEMBERS AND MOUNTING SAID UPPER FRAME MEMBER IN ADJUSTABLE ELEVATED POSITIONS RELATIVE TO THE SIDE FRAME MEMBERS; A PAIR OF SUPPORTING WHEELS CARRIED BY THE LOWER ENDS OF EACH OF SAID SIDE FRAME MEMBERS; MEANS RIGIDLY INTERCONNECTING THE UPPER AND LOWER ENDS OF SAID SIDE FRAME MEMBERS INCLUDING A PLATFORM PROVIDING MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE FEET OF THE HUMAN AND INTERCONNECTING THE LOWER ENDS OF SAID SIDE FRAME MEMBERS, SAID PLATFORM BEING DISPOSED ADJACENT TO, BUT ABOVE, A PLANE CONTAINING THE LOWER EXTREMITIES OF SAID SUPPORTING WHEELS; KNEE RESTRAINT MEANS SECURED BETWEEN THE FRONT EDGES OF THE SIDE MEMBERS; REAR 